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NEW MIDDLETOWN, Ohio, Sept. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennant Midstream, LLC, today announced the construction of a 12-inch, 38-mile natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline, an approximately $60 million investment. The line will connect the Hickory Bend Cryogenic Processing Plant in New Middletown, Ohio, to the UEO Kensington facility near Kensington, Columbiana County and will have the capacity to initially deliver approximately 90,000 barrels a day. NiSource Midstream Services, LLC, operates Pennant Midstream, which is jointly owned by Harvest Pipeline (an affiliate of Hilcorp Energy Company) and NiSource Midstream Services.

From Antero Resources, a Colorado-based company and a key player in Ohio's Utica shale:

DENVER
,
Sept. 30, 2013
/PRNewswire/ -- Antero Resources Corporation (the "Company") today announced the commencement of its initial public offering of 30,000,000 shares of its common stock, at an anticipated initial public offering price between
$38.00 and $42.00
per share, pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 previously filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "
SEC
"). The selling stockholder named in the registration statement expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,750,000 shares of the Company's common stock held by the selling stockholder to cover over-allotments if the underwriters sell more than 30,000,000 shares of the Company's common stock. The Company also expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 750,000 shares of the Company's common stock held by the Company to cover over-allotments if the underwriters sell more than 33,750,000 shares of common stock. Any exercise by the underwriters of their options to purchase additional shares of common stock will be made initially with respect to the 3,750,000 additional shares of common stock to be sold by the selling stockholder and then with respect to the 750,000 additional shares of common stock to be sold by the Company. The Company has been approved to list its common shares on the
New York Stock Exchange
(NYSE) under the symbol "AR," subject to official notice of issuance.

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 27, 2013--
MarkWest Energy Partners, L.P.
(NYSE: MWE) (MarkWest) today provided information regarding an
August 2013
landslide which impacted a MarkWest natural gas liquids (NGLs) pipeline in a remote area of northern
Wetzel County, West Virginia
, causing a line break. The landslide originated from significant erosion and run-off from heavy rainfall. MarkWest shut down the pipeline and immediately commenced repairs and remediation of the impacted portions of the pipeline. Repairs and remediation to the pipeline and rights of way in the landslide impacted areas are currently underway, and MarkWest is diligently working to complete the remedial work and return the pipeline to service. The pipeline and the Mobley processing facilities will remain shut down until the pipeline remedial work is completed, which is expected to be approximately mid-October. The Sherwood processing facility continues to operate at curtailed levels and NGLs from that facility are being transported by truck for fractionation and sale. No other MarkWest facility has been impacted. MarkWest does not expect the shutdown of these facilities to have a material impact on its financial results.

Texas-based TransCanada ANR Pipeline System has announced two open seasons to gauge market interest in securing capacity on the Lebanon Lateral in southwestern Ohio. That line will become bi-directional.

That connection will open up the Midwest and Gulf Coast markets for Marcellus and Utica shale producers, the company said last week.

From Cabot Oil & Gas Co., a major player in the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania:

HOUSTON, Sept. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE: COG) today established its initial 2014 production growth guidance range of 30 to 50 percent and reaffirmed its 2013 production growth guidance range of 44 to 54 percent. "We have provided initial 2014 guidance to further reaffirm management's confidence in our ability to continue to provide best-in-class production growth in 2014," said Dan O. Dinges, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. "While production volumes have recently been impacted by our strategic decision to periodically hold back production due to the recent softness in Marcellus spot market pricing and scheduled infrastructure maintenance projects (most of which will be completed by early October), we believe these are both short-term phenomena that will not have an impact on our production growth in 2013 and beyond."

If the state allows drilling for natural gas in Marcellus shale, the health of residents, and the health care system, are bound to see changes, and local residents ae being asked to contribute their thoughts and ideas to a study, the Cumberland Times-News reported.

About 30 people showed up at a meeting Tuesday at Frostburg State University to offer their perspective. Focus groups will be included in the study, with more information about those groups to be released soon, said Sacoby Wilson, a University of Maryland professor and one of the leaders of the study.

“We have a lot of notes taken last night,” Wilson said to members of the state Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission that met Wednesday at Allegany College of Maryland.

(New York– September 26, 2013) In an email blast to Capitol Hill staffers this week, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Jack Gerard made false claims about a much- discussed new University of Texas methane emissions study. Gerard said the study “proves” that “hydraulic fracturing is safe for the environment.” To support that inaccurate claim, the email cherry picks findings from the recently published UT study, which was coordinated by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and focuses on natural gas production, the first phase in the supply chain. Gerard used study results that measured emissions below previous estimates, ignored others that found higher than estimated methane emissions, and implied that the study gave a complete picture of system emissions when it only deals with the production phase.

OKLAHOMA CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 27, 2013-- Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Devon Midstream Partners, L.P., has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This filing relates to an initial public offering of common units in Devon Midstream Partners, L.P. representing limited partner interests. Application will be made to list the common units of Devon Midstream Partners, L.P. on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DVNM.”

STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Sept. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rex Energy Corporation (Nasdaq:REXX) announced today that it has secured interim processing capacity for its production in its Warrior North Prospect, following the fire that damaged the Blue Racer Natrium Processing Facility on Saturday, September 21, 2013. Rex Energy does not expect third quarter 2013 production guidance to be materially affected by the downtime experienced at the Natrium Processing Facility.

North Carolina’s environment agency has taken the unusual step of returning a federal grant to study streams and wetlands that could be harmed by hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources had itself recommended last year that baseline water-quality data be collected where drilling might occur. The information would help document any problems linked to drilling.

GE says it has developed technology that can help resolve one of fracking's major environmental problems, the waste water generated in the process of tapping shale, reports MIT Technology Review.

Technology Review: "... The new technology would make it unnecessary to dilute the wastewater, or transport it for treatment or disposal. It is based on a desalination technology known as membrane distillation, which combines heat and decreased pressure to vaporize water using membranes to separate pure water vapor from salt water.

Washington, D.C.—New analysis released today by the national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch shows that oil and gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is associated with increased incidence of traffic accidents, disorderly conduct arrests and sexually transmitted infections in rural communities. The Social Costs of Fracking: A Pennsylvania Case Study found that once fracking began in 2005, these social indicators worsened in counties with fracked natural gas wells, and the trends were especially pronounced in the rural counties with the highest density of fracked wells.

As the Ohio General Assembly reconvenes this month, legislators will likely address the state’s energy future. With state Senator Bill Seitz preparing to release new legislation that may rollback Ohio’s existing clean energy laws, a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) addresses the risks and opportunities of Ohio’s current energy mix.

From the eco-grop Earthworks late last week on the Eagle Ford shale in Texas:

Washington, DC – A new report released today, September 19th, provides an important window into a disturbing national pattern regarding the oversight of fracking-enabled oil and gas development: regulators, charged with protecting the public, are actively avoiding evidence that fracking is harming the public. The report focuses on Karnes County, TX in an attempt to illuminate a growing national pattern of absentee regulators.

Houston-based Kinder Morgan’s stock recovered this week after taking a blow from a research firm that claimed the company was starving its pipeline maintenance spending in order to enrich its stakeholders.

Richard Kinder, the company’s chairman and chief executive, swung hard in defense of the pipeline operator’s spending policies during an hour-long investor call this week, laying out arguments against a 26-year-old analysts’ claims and saying investors should trust in his 33 years of experience in the pipeline business and his management team’s 100 years.

Natural gas interests have spent more than $747 million during a 10-year campaign – stunningly successful so far – to avoid government regulation of hydraulic “fracking,” a fast-growing and environmentally risky process used in Ohio and at least a dozen other states to tap underground gas reserves, according to a new study by Common Cause.

A faction of the natural gas industry has directed more than $20 million to the campaigns of current members of Congress – including $600,000 to Ohioans -- and put $726 million into lobbying aimed at shielding itself from oversight, according to the report, the third in a series of “Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets” reports produced by the non-profit government watchdog group.

Rep. John Boehner led Ohio’s Congressional delegation with $186,900 raised from fracking interests, followed Sen. Rob Portman with $91,000, Rep. Steve Chabot with $59,050, and Rep. Steve Stivers with $51,250.

“Players in this industry have pumped cash into Congress in the same way they pump toxic chemicals into underground rock formations to free trapped gas,” said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. “And as fracking for gas releases toxic chemicals into groundwater and streams, the industry’s political fracking for support is toxic to efforts for a cleaner environment and relief from our dependence on fossil fuels.”

The report also tracks $2.8 million in campaign contributions to Ohio’s state elected officials and notes that Ohio’s fracking regulations are among the weakest of any state. Gov. John Kasich was the leading individual recipient with $213,519, followed by former Gov. Ted Strickland with $87,450 and Secretary of State John Husted with $84,750.

In Congress, the industry’s political giving heavily favors lawmakers who supported the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which exempted fracking from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Current members who voted for the bill received an average of $73,433, while those who voted against the bill received an average of $10,894.

The report comes as the Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to publish new, preliminary findings in 2012 about the potential dangers of fracking. That gives the industry a powerful incentive to increase political spending now in an attempt to shape public opinion and the debate over fracking in Congress, as well as affect the outcome of the 2012 congressional elections.

“Thanks to the Supreme Court and its Citizens United decision, the natural gas industry will be free to spend whatever it likes next year to elect a Congress that will do its bidding,” Edgar said. “The industry’s political investments already have largely freed it from government oversight. Controlling the flow of that money and other corporate spending on our elections is critical to protecting our environment for this and future generations.”

COLUMBUS– State Representative Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) announced today that he will be introducing legislation to require that lobbyists report their annual salaries. The effort would render a more complete picture of the financial influence of special interests at our state’s capitol. The legislative proposal follows Common Cause Ohio’s recent “Troublesome Gap in Transparency” report that detailed oil and gas industry donations of two millions dollars to Ohio politicians in the past two years

Great Britain may have no choice but to aggressively pursue fracking for natural gas, reports MIT Technology Review.

Technology Review: "Proposed U.K. government policies to encourage hydrofracking of natural gas ignited a firestorm of protest this summer, with critics complaining that they were not consulted and that rules will restrict local planners’ authority. But the country appears to have few other options.

The massive flooding in Colorado is raising concerns over flood-caused damage at fracking sites in the state, reports The Huffington Post.

The Huffington Post: "As the sky finally clears in flood-devastated Colorado and official damage estimates continue to come out, questions remain about the stability of the state's fracking sites in one of the most densely drilled areas in the United States, many of which have been completely covered by floodwaters.

The tapping of shale energy resources in the United States is redrawing the global energy map, reports Foreign Affairs magazine.

Foreign Affairs: "As the production of unconventional oil and gas in the United States rises -- and as the United States increasingly exports that energy -- the world’s economic map will be forever changed.

CNNMoney: "Energy consultant IHS has identified 23 locations around the world -- from Argentina to West Siberia -- that could together hold roughly 175 billion barrels in recoverable oil, far surpassing the 43 billion barrels estimated to be sitting in North America.

COLUMBUS: The Utica and Marcellus shales are poised to produce significant volumes of natural gas that can benefit utilities and manufacturers in the Midwest and the Northeast, according to a new report.

Bentek Energy, the Colorado-based energy market analytics company, says continued development of Utica and Marcellus natural gas and a rapidly growing infrastructure to transport the gas will result in “substantial opportunity” for natural gas users in Ohio, Pennsylvania and the Northeast United States, said spokesman Justin Carlson.

The study, “Measurements of Methane Emissions at Natural Gas Production Sites in the United States” by David T. Allen and colleagues was published yesterday in the Journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences at 3pm EST on Monday, September 16, 2013. The Environmental Defense Fund together with many oil and gas companies funded and supported this research effort.

The research bears directly on the powerful GHG/global warming effects of methane and thus the implications for regulation and continued widespread development of shale gas. But it has concluded that methane leakage at well sites, selected in time and location by industry participants, is so low as to be nearly trivial. This is a finding at odds with other researchers’ work that shows much higher rates.

Allen and colleagues conclude that upstream (at the well site) methane emissions from the natural gas industry amount to just 0.42% of gross annual domestic production of associated (oil wells) and non-associated (gas wells) natural gas. However, the study - much like its widely-criticized predecessor, (EPA/GRI 1996), which this study seems to closely follow – is based on a small sampling of hydraulically fractured wells which may not adequately represent national oil and gas activity and the variability within and across production basins.

Furthermore, the fugitive losses reported by Allen and colleagues are 10 to 20 times lower than those calculated from more complete (field-level) measurements.

A fatal flaw in the study by Allen and colleagues is that they make no attempt to discuss these conflicting results, nor do they even reference these other studies as relevant evidence to uncertainty. How might one explain this huge discrepancy in measured emissions?

* Possible explanation #1 for discrepancy: industry well selection. While it is possible that the gas industry can produce gas with relatively low associated emissions at the well site, this is likely not now the norm nationally, regionally, or even within a single production play. It is in the interest of industry to select lower emitting wells for sampling. Studies carried out by NOAA and other independent researchers which report significantly higher rates of emissions rely on atmospheric measurements and chemical analysis of atmospheric samples to assess emissions across the entirety of a production field rather than a small subset of selected wells. As such, these studies are more likely to reflect accurately real-world emissions from the industry as a whole.

* Possible explanation #2 for discrepancy: The effect of oversight. This paper suggests that when industry knows that they are being carefully watched they are motivated to, and capable of, substantially reducing fugitive methane emissions at the well site. However, in the real world, not every well has oversight by scientists and engineers of the caliber of Allen and colleagues during all of their work. In fact, many state oil and gas regulatory agencies in the United States have too few inspectors to monitor the large numbers of wells and regulatory oversight is, thus, greatly limited (http://goo.gl/VK4nzf). In the real world, gas production operators may not take all precautions necessary to limit fugitive methane loss; field-level measurements capture the emissions from wells owned by these operators as well as exemplary wells.

The results of this study fall within the range of upstream methane emissions reported in the controversial EPA/GRI 1996 study: 0.38% (± 0.17) of gross U.S. production. One can’t help but notice other similarities between the studies: e.g. relative sample size, sampling methods. The EPA/GRI study has been widely criticized for limited data and unrepresentative sampling (Howarth et al. 2011; EPA 2010; OIG 2013). Given the politically charged environment around unconventional natural gas development, we must question whether this study is simply an attempt to manipulate science and reverse the political discussions of fugitive methane emissions. A confirmation of high rates of fugitive methane losses as is concluded in all of the field-level studies to date (again, these were omitted from the Allen et al. paper) would discredit the "clean natural gas" narrative.

It is likely that a higher methane emission rate would necessitate more regulatory oversight of the oil and gas industry and this study may be an industry maneuver to counter that possibility.

It is disappointing that Allen and colleagues seem to have failed to employ basic scientific rules including transparent criteria for the selection of study sites to measure, sufficient sample sizes, and the attempt to place their results in the context of other scientific studies to date. This study falls short in its attempt to help answer questions about methane emissions from modern gas development beyond the small number of gas industry-selected wells where measures were taken.”

ABOUT PSE

Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy is dedicated to supplying objective, evidence-based, scientific information and resources on unconventional gas development (high-volume hydrofracking) and other novel energy production methods. PSE's mission is to bring transparency to the important scientific and public policy issues surrounding energy, helping to level the playing field for citizens, scientists, advocacy groups, media, and policy-makers. For more information, go to http://www.psehealthyenergy.org/.

YOUNGSTOWN, OH- State Representative Robert Hagan (D-Youngstown) sent a letter today to the Director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources requesting public records from the illegal brine dumping incident that took place earlier this year in the Mahoning Valley. The letter follows recent reports that ODNR is withholding public records on the incident from a statewide environmental group.

(Austin, TX - September 16, 2013) The first of sixteen methane emissions studies in a comprehensive research initiative organized by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), and involving more than 90 partners — universities, scientists, research facilities, and oil and gas companies — is now available. The paper, "Measurements of methane emissions at natural gas production sites in the United States," was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Led by Dr. David Allen at The University of Texas at Austin (UT), the study took direct measurements of methane emissions associated with unconventional natural gas production — specifically, shale gas wells that use hydraulic fracturing.

GRAPEVINE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GreenHunter Resources, Inc. (NYSE MKT:GRH)(NYSE MKT:GRH.PRC) (the “Company”), a diversified water resource, waste management and environmental services company specializing in the unconventional oil and natural gas shale resource plays, announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, GreenHunter Water, LLC, began today commercial operations at a new salt water disposal (SWD) facility located in Newport, Washington County, Ohio. This riverside SWD has the potential to inject a minimum of 1,200 barrels per day (BBL/D) of oilfield brine. New field personnel have been hired to run the SWD facility.

HOUSTON, TEXAS
,
Sept. 12, 2013
(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Halcón
Resources Corporation
(NYSE: HK) ("Halcón" or the "Company") today announced it has entered into three separate purchase and sale agreements to divest certain non-core conventional assets located throughout the U.S. (the "Properties") for total consideration of approximately
$302 million
.

From the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund of Ohio on Thursday:

(Broadview Heights, Ohio, September 12, 2013) As Congressional representatives meet to debate military strikes against the Syrian government for targeting its own people for toxic chemical attacks and Syria offers to surrender those toxins to halt the atrocities, in Ohio there’s a clandestine, but well orchestrated attempt by backers of toxin-laden frack drilling and poison injection wells to block citizens from deciding for themselves whether State-permitted poisons will be allowed to be pumped and dumped in their communities.

WASHINGTON, September 11, 2013 – API Director of Upstream and Industry Operations Erik Milito welcomed today’s authorization by the Department of Energy for exports from the Cove Point liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility as a sign that the agency may be moving more quickly to process the remaining 15 applications to export LNG to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the United States.

“This demonstrates progress toward an enormous opportunity for the administration to bolster job creation and economic growth. The shale gas revolution has fundamentally changed the energy equation, positioning the United States as an energy superpower that can provide ample, affordable supplies to the domestic and international markets, and in a way that has helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions to near twenty-year lows.

Timely approval of LNG export authorizations could create tens of thousands of domestic jobs while having only minimal impacts on domestic U.S. natural gas prices, according to a recent report by ICF International. The report also concludes that LNG exports would spur strong growth in U.S. GDP but that U.S. companies would face considerable competition for LNG sales abroad, with at least 63 international LNG export projects currently planned or under construction.

A look at LNG from Sterne Agee analysts Michael Dudas and Patrick Uotila:

Our Call Encouraging news flow continues to reflect the materialization of a strong U.S. LNG cycle that should offer a long tail of revenue and margin growth opportunities for select E&C firms. We believe portfolios with cyclical growth strategies should add E&C positions in Fluor, CB&I, Jacobs and URS Corporation in front of pending EPC awards surrounding North American natural gas monetization.

• Dominion (D, $58.61, NR) received Department of Energy approval for its $3 billion plus Cove Point project in Maryland. Dominion previously awarded the EPC contract to a joint venture of IHI Corporation (7013-TKS, 407 JPY, NR) and Kiewit (private). The Cove Point approval follows the last DOE approval, The Lake Charles project, by about a month. Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) on the Lake Charles project will be done by Technip (TEC-PAR, 89.42 EUR, NR). Several of the larger LNG projects have awarded FEED contracts which should be completed during 2014 when larger Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts should be rewarded.

• We remain encouraged by the accelerated pace of approvals. So far, 4 LNG projects worth over $20 billion have been approved for U.S. export approval. The $6 billion Cameron LNG project remains second in line to receive the next approval. Joint ventures bidding on the EPC for this project include Fluor/JGC (1963-TKS, 3705 JPY, NR) and CB&I/Chiyoda (6366-TKS, 1141 JPY, NR). We believe Exxon's (XOM, $88.84, NR) $10 billion Golden Pass project remains around 10th in line for DOE approval. A CB&I/Chiyoda JV was awarded the pre-FEED on the terminal at Golden Pass while Worley Parsons (WOR-ASX, 22.77 AUD, NR) was awarded the pipeline pre-FEED.

• Freeport LNG (private) recently signed two additional deals to export gas to Asia supporting commitments to justify a third train which would bring the total project cost to $11 billion. We continue to expect a Freeport LNG announcement regarding an EPC contract where we think CBI remains well positioned in a JV with Zachry construction. Japan's Toshiba (6502-TKS, 413 JPY, NR) and SK (018670-KRX, 71700 KRW, NR) of Korea signed agreements for 2.2 million tons of LNG per year. We believe the first two trains together should come in $5.0-$6.0 billion. One train per year remains expected to open during 2017, 2018, and 2019.

• Our LNG project development base case scenario assumes more than 10 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day of proposed project capacity comes on line in North America during 2015-2020, with capital spending of $30 billion plus. Liquefaction terminals remain considerably expensive ($2-$10 billion) projects that support a very long construction cycle (4-6 years). Peripheral construction activity around LNG pipelines, processing and storage should offer incremental opportunities worth billions of dollars starting in 2013, lasting through 2017. We expect Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) activities during 2013-2015 and Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) awards during 2013-2018. We believe Fluor, Jacobs, and Chicago Bridge & Iron remain particularly well suited to win scope at each project. We expect the size and complexity of these projects to dictate multiple scopes providing several angles for participation in addition to the main EPC contract.

Last month, the Mahoning County commissioners approved a one-year road-use maintenance agreement to allow Halcon Resources LLC of Houston to perform seismic testing for oil and natural-gas deposits along county and township roads in six townships.

The exploration is to occur in Austintown, Jackson, Milton, Berlin, Ellsworth and Canfield townships.

The Friday morning session of the 2013 Youngstown, Ohio Utica and Natural Gas (YOUNG) Conference & Expo has been canceled because two key speakers will be unable to attend. Organizers said they did not have enough time to bring in replacement speakers.

Thursday's main event, which includes speakers and a big trade show, runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown. Wednesday's reception runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Boardman.

Our Call We trim 3Q production and earnings estimates following this morning's negative pre-announcement. We expect shares to come under pressure today. GPOR shares have rallied 24% in the last month and closed yesterday within $1 of their 52-week high, so a short-term pullback does not concern us. Despite the cut in 3Q production guidance, our long-term thesis on the stock is unchanged.

• Details. Gulfport released updated 3Q production guidance this morning and cut guidance to 12.25-12.75 boe/d, versus prior guidance of 14-15 boe/d and our estimate of 14.7 mboe/d. The company cited permitting and infrastructure delays from Markwest (MWE, $68.36, NR) from the Irons 1-4H well, which was supposed to be on-line in mid-August, as well as downtime from simultaneous operations, which likely refers to shutting in producing wells while completing other wells on the same pad. We have been unable to speak with the company yet this morning for further details.

• Each Well Matters - Irons 1-4H Delay is the Biggest Driver of Reduced Production Guidance. In its early stages of growth in the Utica Shale, each well is of paramount importance, given the strong initial production rates. The Irons well, drilled in Eastern Belmont County, is toward the dry gas window of the play, where we estimate IP rates will average over 6 mmcfe/d (1 mboe/d) over the first year of production. A delay in turning one well to production in the gas window in the third quarter impacts total company production by 1+ mboe/d, 8% of total 3Q13E production. This well was the easternmost well drilled by Gulfport to date, and was most exposed to a delay in infrastructure. Optics appear negative from a ~2 mboe/d reduction in guidance, but the gassier wells in eastern Ohio are simply so strong that shifts in the date when they are turned to sales can have large impacts. We believe the Irons well was likely the biggest driver of downtime, while well shut-ins from nearby completions was another contributing factor.

• Trimming 3Q Estimates, Maintaining 4Q13/2014/2015 For Now. Despite the 3Q shortfall, Gulfport maintained full-year production guidance of ~15 mboe/d, which implies 4Q production of ~32 mboe/d to get to the midpoint of full-year production guidance, or ~27 mboe/d to get the low end of 2013 guidance. While we trim 3Q production to 12.5 mboe/d from 14.7 mboe/d, our current 4Q production estimate of 31 mboe/d is unchanged. 3Q EPS declines by a penny to $0.12 and 3Q EBITDA declines by $7 million to $56 million.

Chesapeake Energy has dropped its two-year legal battle to force an extension of 200 expired gas-drilling leases covering 13,000 acres in southern New York, the law firm representing the landowners said Monday.

An Athens, Ohio law firm, Lavelle and Associates, filed a protest Thursday, September 5, 2013 with the Wood County Board of Elections to prevent the Bowling Green Community’s Bill of Rights Charter Amendment from being placed on the November ballot. The protest states that municipalities have no authority to exert legislative control over oil and gas production. Citizens assert Bowling Green has the ability to amend its charter as a home rule city, and there is a constitutional right for city residents to be allowed to vote on such issues which have been passed by other Ohio cities.

Cheap natural gas from fracking means the United States will soon find itself in a position to export the fuel, writes The Via Meadia blog at The American Interest. And the soon-to-be-done widening of the Panama Canal makes liquified natural gas exports more cost effective, the blog says.

(Via Meadia is generally pro-shale energy while acknowleding the environmental and economic risks.)

The Portage Trail of the Sierra Club is hosting a showing of a new film Triple Divide on Sept. 20.

The film, a look at shale drilling in northern Pennsylvania and how it was managed by the Department of Environmental Protection, will be shown at 7 p.m. at the Springfield Township Community and Senior Center, 2459 Canfield Road, just off U.S. 224.

Wastewater treatment plants that process waters from oil and gas development were found to discharge elevated levels of toxic chemicals known as brominated disinfection byproducts, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

A proposed pipeline that would carry flammable liquids through north and central Kentucky wouldn’t cross into land owned by a group of Catholic nuns that has been outspokenly opposed to it, a pipeline company spokesman said last week.

Michigan may have large natural gas reserves deep underground, but it will likely be years before they would be developed on a large scale, giving policymakers time to deal with the environmental and public health concerns associated with the extraction method known as fracking, according to a study released Thursday.

GRANITE FALLS, Minn., Sept. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Fagen, Inc. today announced the completion of all details and agreements to take possession of a multi-acre site in Houston, PA to provide equipment storage, tool storage and materials management for current and future projects in the build out of the Utica / Appalachian Basin and Marcellus fields.

A proposal to restrict natural gas production in a Virginia national forest has become a flashpoint in the debate over whether drilling endangers water — in this case water used by millions of people in the Washington region.

HOUSTON
,
Sept. 6, 2013
/PRNewswire/ --
EV Energy Partners, L.P.
(NASDAQ: EVEP) announced that it, along with certain institutional partnerships managed by
EnerVest, Ltd.
, has signed an agreement to acquire natural gas properties in the
Barnett Shale
from Carrizo Oil and Gas, Inc. EVEP has agreed to acquire a 31 percent interest in these assets for
$67.6 million
(
$218 million
for all
EnerVest
-affiliated entities combined).

The Pittsburgh District has released the draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) document related to the Halcon Field Services SRC Pipeline Project in the vicinity of the Shenango Wildlife Area, Trumbull County, Ohio.

COLUMBUS, OH (September 6, 2013) – A group of Ohio municipalities have weighed in on behalf of home rule protections against fracking operations in a controversial Ohio Supreme Court Case pitting communities against unfettered oil and gas development. The cities of Broadview Heights, Euclid, Mansfield, and North Royalton, and the Village of Amesville, today submitted a “friends of the court” brief in a case regarding fracking permits awarded to Beck Energy in the town of Munroe Falls.

Property developer Julie Wilde says the fracking of an oil field under her beach-side villa on England’s south coast has done nothing to hurt the value of the 9 million-pound ($14 million) home.

Oil exploration hasn’t affected the area “one little bit,” Wilde said as she drove an Audi A5 convertible through her house’s electric gates. “It’s a really, really nice place to live. It’s almost like being on holiday all the time.”

Chesapeake Energy Corp will finalize an agreement next week to drop about 12,000 acres of land leased for energy drilling in New York state, as a moratorium on fracking continues into its sixth year, Reuters reports.

There were reports last month that Chesapeake decided to walk away from about 100 leases in Broome and Tioga Counties in the south of the state, ending a two-year legal battle with landowners who wanted to cancel expired leases or renegotiate for better terms.

WASHINGTON, September 4, 2013 – A new study illustrates the far-reaching economic contributions of unconventional oil and natural gas development, particularly in the manufacturing sector, says API Vice President for Policy and Economic Analysis Kyle Isakower.

“The oil and natural gas revolution has created millions of jobs, and this study shows the broader economic benefits are being felt by households and manufacturers across the U.S.,” said Isakower. “Oil and natural gas have been pillars of the recovery, and other sectors are now coming back stronger and faster because of affordable and abundant energy and raw materials -- despite economic headwinds. As a result, Americans have more income, more buying power, and a more competitive economy.”

The study by IHS Global Insight, “America’s New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil and Gas Revolution and the Economy – Volume 3: A Manufacturing Renaissance,” expands on IHS’s earlier research into unconventional oil and natural gas -- resources generally unlocked from shale deposits and other tight formations using hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The latest report outlines the full chain of economic activity resulting from unconventional development, from drilling and refining to petrochemical supplies and manufacturing. According the study, the full unconventional value chain supported 2.1 million jobs last year, and is projected to support 3.9 million jobs by 2025, including 515,000 manufacturing jobs.

“Unconventional energy has been a remarkable economic stimulus with implications far beyond oil and natural gas producing states,” said Isakower. “New supplies are changing the game for businesses that use or make energy-intensive products including chemicals, aluminum, steel, cement, and foodstuff. But to unlock our full manufacturing potential, those in Washington must turn aside efforts that would impose duplicative regulations on shale development, raise production costs, and limit access to domestic resources.”

According to the study, unconventional oil and gas will steadily increase U.S. competitiveness, contributing $180 billion to the U.S. trade balance by 2022. In addition, unconventional energy:

WASHINGTON (September 4, 2013) – The American Chemistry Council (ACC) lauded an IHS report released today that predicts a lasting competitive advantage for the U.S. chemical industry thanks to plentiful, affordable natural gas – part of a manufacturing renaissance that will include industrial expansion and new jobs.

Total SA (FP) will shut a money-losing steam cracker at Carling in France and invest 160 million euros ($211 million) in making resin and polymers at the site in a bid to boost profitability of petrochemicals production.

HOUSTON, TX -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 09/04/2013 -- Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (
NASDAQ
:
CRZO
) today announced the sale of its remaining Barnett Shale properties as well as other non-core assets in East Texas and the Marcellus Shale. The company also announced plans to participate in upcoming conferences.

By David White of Seeking Alpha website on Chesapeake Energy and predictions of a cold winter:

The Farmer's Almanac recently released its forecast for a much colder than normal winter in 2013-2014. "A large area of below-normal temperatures will predominate from roughly east of the Continental divide to the Appalachians, north and east through New England. Coldest temperatures will be over the Northern Plains on east into the Great Lakes. Only for the Far West and the Southeast will there be a semblance of winter temperatures averaging close to normal, but only a few areas will enjoy many days where temperatures will average above normal."

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin told state business leaders he was continuing to work to bring an ethane cracker plant to the state, saying he believes the state still has a good chance to attract one.

"We are working every day to make that happen, and I am convinced it will happen," Tomblin said in late August.

Shale energy production decline rates get analyzed by Michael Lynch at Forbes.com.

Lynch: "In the case of decline rates, the fear has been that offsetting the falling production in existing reserves would make it difficult to increase production to meet rising demand. Some call this the ‘Red Queen’ issue, running faster and faster just to stay in place.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Friday agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court over royalty payments in the Marcellus shale of Pennsylvania, says NPR's StateImpact Pennsylvania.

The energy giant was sued by 14 Pennsylvania and New York leaseolders unhappy that Chesapeake had reduced royalty payments because of certain post-production costs like pipelines and compressor stations.

Denver, Colorado, September 3, 2013 — Antero Resources announced today that the borrowing base under its bank credit facility has been increased to $2.0 billion. This represents a $250 million increase over Antero’s previous borrowing base announced in May 2013. In addition, lender commitments under the facility were increased by $300 million to $1.75 billion. The $1.75 billion commitment can be expanded to the full $2.0 billion borrowing base upon bank approval.